PBS donates archives to Library of Congress

PBS said Wednesday it will donate archives consisting of more than 40,000 videotapes and films to the Library of Congress.

The collection consists of four decades worth of public TV’s most notable works, including clips from “Sesame Street,””Great Performances,””Nova, “”Creativity With Bill Moyers” and “Hollywood Television Theatre.”

PBS chief operating officer Robert Ottenhoff, who made the announcement, said , “The Library of Congress is the preeminent symbol of the enduring quest for knowledge and enlightenment. There is no better place for ensuring access by scholars to television’s finest works.”

The PBS collection consists not only of PBS programs, but also those distributed by the Educational Television and Radio Center, a source for educational programming in the 1950s and early 1960s.

PBS also intends to donate current and future productions to the library one year after PBS rights to the shows expire. These include “The Civil War,””Eyes on the Prize” and “The Secret of Life.”

Librarian of Congress James Billington said he is “pleased to accept on behalf of the American people this record of the innovative men and women who produced for public TV.”